Improvement in device for tightening wire fence



alunni sansgaat can.

DOUGLAS w. EATON, OF NORTH RIDGE, New YORK.

Letters Patent No. 93,976, dated August 24, 1869.

IMPROVELIENT INv DEVICE FR TIG-ETENING- WIRE FENCE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent'and making part of thesame.

' To allV whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, DOUGLAS W. EATON, ofNorth Ridge, in the county of Niagara, and State of New York, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Devices for StrainingWire Fence; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full andexact description thereof, reference ,being had to the accom-l panyingdrawings, making apart of this specification, in which Figure 1 is anelevation of the fence, with my'irnprovement applied thereto.

'Figure 2, a plan ofthe same. Figure 3, a view of thestraining-instrument, detached.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theiigures.

My invention consists of an instrument of peculiarv construction, -forstraining wire fence, being in the form of a wrench, with cross-arm atone end, and a smooth conical point at the other, by which means it canbe tightened or loosened at pleasure.

In the drawings, a section of wire-fence is shown,

being of that kind where pickets are woven with a' smooth,tapering'point, d, at the otlrer,.which enters a corresponding hole inthe fence-post.

The extremity of the conical end may be cleft or notched, as shown at f,so that when .driven into the.

wood, it will clinch and hold with greater tenacity.

The shank is provided with one'or more holes, g, v

for receiving and securing the ends of the wires to be strained.

The action will bc readily understood.

The wire being secured to the wrench, the conical end of the. latter isplaced inthe correspondingvhole in the post, and turned, by means of thecross-arm, to

the necessary degree to makethe wire taut. The pressure of thevoperators hand inward will be sufficient to secure it for the timebeing, or if Vthis is not enough, it may receive the blow of a hammer.In releasing, for the insertion of the picket, the smooth surface 4ofthe conical point offers no substantial impediment to theturning-action, and thusr great accu-` racy of adjustment may besecured, and the necessary tension and slack produced in the simplestmanner. I am aware that screw-bolts, screwing into the wood have beenbefore employed for straining and holding the tension of wire fences;but in such cases they have beenof small size, and attachedto the postsas'xtures.

My invention diers from these, in being made of large size, as a wrench,and not being a xture to the post, but simply a device for straining thewire, which is then fastened, while the instrumentA itself is removed.

It is obvious at a glance that a screw-bolt could never answer thepurpose for which 4my instrument is 'design ed.

I am also aware that wrenches of various forms are in use. I disclaimthe use of a wrench, broadly.

My instrument is of special construction, as the point d must be madeconical to hold in the wood as it is forced in, and must be made roundand sr'nootli to allow' a turning-action without removal from the wood.

These features of the wrench are what render the device ypractical forthis particular purpose, and have never before been embodied in awrench, so far as I 51H1 aware.

What I claim as my invention,'and desire to secure by Letters Patent, asa new article of manufacture,

'Ihe device for strainingwire fences, herein described, consisting ofthe shank a, with conical point d 'and cross-arm c, the whole arrangedas described, and operating in the manner and for the purpose specitied.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto. signed my name, in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

D. W. EATON.

#Witnessesz J. R. BRAKE, C. N. WooDwAnD.

